mentality of survival and its everyday application

[jlwilliams]

  In Rhode Island we had a National Guardsman get lost in the Big River Management area.  You can Google Earth it if you want, but in short it's a few square miles of bike paths, access roads and a good sized old farm.  The idea of that yo-yo protecting society is not a confidence builder.

[reliquary]

The easiest way to be rescued from a "lost" situation around here is to throw down a piece of litter.  Someone will run up, having a hissy fit, and you can get them to take you to the nearest dumpster.
 
In Alaska, I hunted and did recreational prospecting in BLM/Game Management Areas larger than RI and never had a problem.  You have to be prepared.
 
 

[myronman3]

there are many places in the lower 48 that are very far from roads, and vehicle traffic.  i have been within 50 yards of a road looking for it, and it might as well had been invisible through the brush.   there are no absolutes and you guys who are pretending there are, are misleading people.
   hell, i got lost in a dark room in a strange house one time after enjoying too much to drink that evening and waking up and needing to find a bathroom. 
   being lost isnt funny. 

[reliquary]

I apologize for sounding as if I'm omniscient.  Only God can claim that.  But the fact remains that I've never been lost in the woods. 
 
What I did was prepare.  During the times that I was hunting, prospecting, backpacking, and, later hiking (a good part of) the Appalachian Trail, I always had a map, compass, and survival supplies.  I oriented myself to the general directions the rivers and streams ran, so as a last resort I could follow one of them "somewhere".  In the Lower 48, I checked for big-city airports in case I needed to see which way the big birds were generally flying.  In Alaska, I checked with the bush pilots to see if they flew any regular routes over the area I would be in. 
 
Even today, at an age when I no longer hunt or backpack, and the most adventurous thing I do is hike through the forest looking for artifacts and fossils, I always pack a compass and map and survival supplies (and now a cell phone).  I don't use GPS. 

[SHOOTALL]

If you have ever spent time in the "thick" woods of the South the kind where under brush is so thick you can step into a road before seeing it then you have seen woods if large enough are good for getting lost in. But like the above poster being ready goes a long way . Hey even turnning around and looking back helps know what the way out looks like. and who does that.

[reliquary]

SHOOTALL:
 
I agree completely on the comment about southern woods.  The worst by far was the Texas Big Thicket area....went to college in Beaumont and hunted around the Thicket occasionally.  Baygalls so thick I had to crawl through them on hands and knees.
 
Next worst was the area between Augusta and Milledgeville, Ga, and along the Ogeechee River. 
 
In Alaska, one could at least navigate alongside waterways.
 
If I were to take up hunting again, I would definitely acquire and use GPS. 

[SHOOTALL]

Here we have briars so thick you can walk on the .